United Way Celebration Marks 90 th Anniversary

Friday, March 26, 2004 – More than 300 people celebrated the 90th anniversary of the United Way of the Greater Dayton Area and the successes of the 2003 Campaign at the second annual volunteer recognition luncheon on Friday, March 26th at the Ponitz Center, Sinclair Community College.

The festivities included a time machine and “birthday party” hats, games, noisemakers, and favors, as the organization celebrated Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.   More than 50 companies, unions, and organizations were recognized for their outstanding results, leadership, and participation in the 2003 United Way Campaign.   “We wanted to show our appreciation to our volunteers and company supporters, and make sure they had fun while we were doing so,” United Way President Marc R. Levy said.   “These individuals gave many hours over the past year to carry out United Way’s work of mobilizing the community on behalf of our local network of health and human services.”

Mary Pryor, MD received the fourth annual Smith-Moore Human Services Award.   Named in honor of Fred Smith and John Moore, past Chairmen of the United Way Board, this singular award is given to a local leader who has made a difference in the quality of life in the Miami Valley through sustained volunteer involvement, commitment, and vision in the health and human services arena.

Reverend Wayne Morrison of the First Presbyterian Church in Eaton was the second recipient of the Nancy K. Schiffer Award for Human Services Advocacy and Collaboration, named for a retired 30-year United Way employee who devoted her career to advocating and collaborating on behalf of our local health and human service system.

The top campaign award category is the Pinnacle Award .   It was presented to the companies that demonstrated the highest level of spirit, involvement, and leadership in the campaign.   The 2003 honorees were:

•  The Berry Company

•  National City Corporation

•  Shook National Corporation

•  UPS and Teamsters 957

"National City is extremely honored to be the recipient the United Way Pinnacle Award," said Jim Hoehn, President and CEO of National City Bank, Southwest Ohio.   "At National City, we have a long history of supporting the communities in which we do business.   Perhaps the strongest charitable commitment we make in all our markets is to United Way.   In fact, in Ohio the combined employee and corporate gift totaled more than $3.4 million in 2003."

The American Red Cross received the Pinnacle Partner Award for outstanding campaign performance and service by a funded agency.

2003 Campaign Chair Pete Luongo and Chairman of the Board Steven Beinlich present the Smith-Moore Human Services Award to Dr. Mary Pryor.		Nancy Schiffer helped present Rev. Wayne Morrison with the Nancy K. Schiffer Award for Human Services Advocacy and Collaboration.

Congratulations to all of the 2003 Award Winners!  Check out the below pictures to see some of the award winners receive their awards.